[BBMW]

That's not what was posted above. What was said that Smith owned the MIM molds, and only used domestic MIM suppliers. That's not inconsistent with what your article says.

Interesting, that one guy said smith made their mim in house, but it appears not based on this recall.

 

[Zerodefect]

Forged parts don't always have to be machined.

I'd rather have billet or forged parts. Powdered metal and wax, shrinking in heat? No thanks.

 

[BBMW]

That's my initial reaction. I'd like to hear a metallurgist chime in on how an MIM part can form the same crystaline structure as a forging.

Forged parts don't always have to be machined.

I'd rather have billet or forged parts. Powdered metal and wax, shrinking in heat? No thanks.

 

[fastbolt]

...

What is the benefit (either to the manufacturer or the customer) of MIM parts?

Precision of the finished part, with labor and time saved.

For example, in my revolver armorer class we were told that in the days of machining steel stock hammers it required 7 different machining steps, on 7 different machines (with machinists), to produce a revolver hammer. Even then, hard-fitting might still be necessary for the machined hammer to fit and function in any particular revolver. MIM hammers eliminate those 7 steps (machinists and machine stations) and are much more precise.

MIM v. machined steel hammer DA sears. Fitting a replacement old-style machined hammer sear can be tedious, with the 3 cuts that may have to be filed by hand. It can be tedious. The MIM hammer sears, on the other hand, drop into the MIM hammers 90% of the time without fitting.

 

[BlueBayShepherd]

The forged steel requires many machining steps. The MIM parts can be done in bulk rapidly. The machining requires more involvement with humans which must paid.

There is a saying about 1911s and revolvers. They were designed at a time when labor was cheap and materials were expensive. Now labor is expensive and materials are cheap.

Going to the Colt armorer's course was eye opening. Just the description of the sear installation point was worth it. A guy just reaches over, grabs a sear, gits it with a file a few times, if he botches it he just tosses it into a bin to be recycled.

Thanks for the info!

 

[BlueBayShepherd]

Precision of the finished part, with labor and time saved.

For example, in my revolver armorer class we were told that in the days of machining steel stock hammers it required 7 different machining steps, on 7 different machines (with machinists), to produce a revolver hammer. Even then, hard-fitting might still be necessary for the machined hammer to fit and function in any particular revolver. MIM hammers eliminate those 7 steps (machinists and machine stations) and are much more precise.

MIM v. machined steel hammer DA sears. Fitting a replacement old-style machined hammer sear can be tedious, with the 3 cuts that may have to be filed by hand. It can be tedious. The MIM hammer sears, on the other hand, drop into the MIM hammers 90% of the time without fitting.

Thanks for the info!

 

[hogship]

Metal Injection Molding was a new technology a few decades ago, and like all technologies, it's advanced since then. Even though I had doubts about it at one time, I no longer do.....